ESPN Freshwater

Read more: Day One

These days, I rarely fish for bass in Arkansas. Lake El Salto has spoiled me. There's never enough big-fish action to keep me satisfied near home. As a result, my son Zach hasn't fished much for bass either. His biggest prior to our El Salto adventure was a 5-pounder.

That changed in a big way this morning. At 6 a.m., after a filling breakfast, we met Luis at the boat and headed out. By 6:15 we were working topwater plugs in a cove where tilapia and shad were breaking everywhere. Big bass were having their fill of baitfish in the shallows. And each time they broke the surface, herons and egrets would fly to the spot to catch breakfast, too.

Luis showed Zach how to work a Rebel Pop-R, and on my son's first cast, a bomb went off under his lure. It looked like someone dropped a boulder in the water from the top of a cliff. And that explosion was quickly followed by the high-flying, head-shaking leap of the 6-pound bass Zach hooked and landed.

Luis suggested I try a Heddon Super Spook, which I did. But I've never been coordinated enough to properly "walk the dog." The rattles inside the lure definitely got the attention of every bass in the neighborhood, but I had to focus so intently on proper lure action, I missed several hawgs that boiled beneath the big bait. I finally connected on an 8-1/2-pounder that gave me a run for my money, jumping several times as it tried its darnedest, unsuccessfully, to throw the lure.

PHOTO GALLERY El Salto Gallery

To say the morning topwater bite was good would be an understatement. Zach and I caught dozens of 3- to 6-pound largemouths in the two hours we fished that cove, including one Zach reeled in single-handed while munching a breakfast burrito Luis had given him. When the surface action abated, we continued our bass-catching streak by throwing 10-inch Berkley Power Worms and Yum Money Minnow swimbaits.

One thing I love about El Salto is abundance of birds here. At mid-morning, we watched a peregrine falcon dive-bombing a cormorant. Wading birds were everywhere, including herons, egrets, ibises and wood storks. Zach, an accomplished wildlife photographer, snapped some great photos of black-bellied whistling ducks perched in the branches of an ancient Mexican cypress. And birds of prey kept us company wherever we went — falcons, vultures, ospreys, hawks and caracaras.

On the way in for lunch, we stopped so Zach and I could climb to one of El Salto's landmarks, the Shrine to the Virgin Mary of Guadalupe, which sits high on an island near the dam. The hike up, through a forest of giant cacti, was like a walk on another planet. And the view from the top was breathtaking.

After stuffing ourselves on a delicious lunch of fajitas with all the fixings (you can expect to gain 10 pounds or more every time you visit Anglers Inn), Zach enjoyed a treat my wife Theresa had suggested — a massage. Anglers Inn's masseuse Betty stays constantly busy as old farts like me come in off the lake for a rubdown to get rid of the aches caused by catching all those lunker largemouths. Zach must have appreciated her talents, too, because he had a massage every day during our visit.

We awoke from a siesta at 4 p.m. and were chunking and winding plastic worms and swimbaits by 4:30. The afternoon bite wasn't quite as good as the morning, but on the first cast, Zach hooked and landed his biggest bass ever, a 7-1/2-pounder that rocketed out of the water like a Polaris missile. I never cease to be amazed by the strength of these El Salto bass, but this one was no equal for an 18-year-old hoping to catch the trophy of a lifetime.

The smile on Zach's face showed that the silent prayer I said at the shrine had been answered.

To contact Keith Sutton, email him at catfishdude@sbcglobal.net. His book, "Out There Fishing," is available at www.catfishsutton.com. For additional information on bass fishing at Lake El Salto, phone 800-GOTA-FISH or visit www.anglersinn.com.

Read more: Day One